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Featured articles

Four featured articles were promoted this week.

American Pharoah (nominated by Montanabw, Vesuvius Dogg, Tigerboy1966, and Froggerlaura) A bay colt with a faint star on his forehead, American Pharoah is so named because his breeder and owner, Ahmed Zayat, is of Egyptian–American background. The mispelling of the name was allegedly the result of holding a competition on social media; the winning name was copied and pasted into an email sent to The Jockey Club, although the submitter claimed she knew how to spell "Pharaoh" and someone else must have transposed the vowels. American Pharoah won the three big US races in May and June 2015 at the age of three and a bit, and he was awarded the American Triple Crown, which hadn't been won since 1978. He retires at the end of this year, and aims to spend his retirement eating grass and doing elementary math. His owner has other ideas… stud life!

Fremantle Prison (nominated by Evad37) Fremantle Prison in the port of Fremantle, Western Australia, was built between 1851 and 1859 using convict labour. Originally housing prisoners transported from the British Isles, it was handed over to the colonial administration in 1886 to incarcerate locally sentenced men and women. Since its closure in 1991, three years after a riot caused substantial damage, the prison has been developed as a tourist attraction. It is a complex of cell blocks, a gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, and tunnels- these were sunk into the limestone rock on which the prison was built, and were used to supply water to the town from an aquifer. Convicts were required to pump the water by hand into a reservoir; known as "cranking", this task was used as a punishment for recalcitrants. Prisoners were often ordered to be flogged with a cat-o-nine-tails, but this punishment was unpopular with the prison staff- despite promises of extra pay, about a third of floggings weren't carried out. The last was in 1943, and the last hanging in 1964. The make-up of the prison population gradually changed. At the time of the gold rushes in the 1890s, there were a majority of white short-time prisoners; by the 1980s the numbers of those sentenced for violent crimes had increased, and about a third of inmates were Aborigines.

Last Gasp (Inside No. 9) (nominated by J Milburn) The Last Gasp was an episode of the comedy series Inside No. 9. A seriously ill young girl receives a visit from a singer, as arranged by a charity. The singer appears to die whilst blowing up a balloon. The parents think that the singer's "last gasp" imprisoned in the balloon might have some monetary value. However the singer isn't dead, so his assistant suffocates him with a pillow. Meanwhile the girl attaches the balloon to another helium-filled balloon and releases the two from her bedroom window. Eugene Wat de Omgang, TV critic of South African newspaper The Star described the episode as "hilarious ... I caught myself gasping more than once as its foul contents unfolded".

Serpens (nominated by StringTheory11) The constellation Serpens is associated in star atlases with the constellation Ophiuchus- the latter represents the god of medicine, Asclepius, who showed kindness to a snake. It licked his ears clean and taught him some secret knowledge. Serpens is divided in two parts by Ophiuchus; the snake winds itself through the legs of Asclepius. It contains all kinds of stuff, including the beautiful Hoag's Object, a classic ring galaxy with a high degree of symmetry.

Featured lists

Black and white
Albert Reiss in front of the Metropolitan Opera House stage entrance
Pretty Nose
Henry M. Mathews - Brady-Handy

Fremantle Prison, where we lock up the bad.

Four featured lists were promoted this week.

List of Attorneys General of West Virginia (nominated by West Virginian) The attorney general of West Virginia is a citizen of that state, aged 25 or over, who is elected or appointed to the position as an "executive department-level state constitutional officer". They have to live in Charleston, do all kinds of legal stuff on behalf of the state, and sit on 13 different committees. A prerequisite for the position is that they have to know what "preneed burial statutes" are. For all this work, they're paid $95,000 a year (2012 rates). Since the post was created in 1863, there have been 34 incumbents.
List of Local Nature Reserves in Hertfordshire (nominated by Dudley Miles) A Local Nature Reserve (or local nature reserve for those of you who like things lower-cased) is a small patch of the Great British countryside which is under the stewardship or protection of a local authority. The sites are regarded as having local scientific interest, and where one can "derive great pleasure from the peaceful contemplation of nature." Here's a list of 42 LNRs in Hertfordshire, a county on the north border of Greater London. "Herts- you don't know where it is, but you know you want to be there"© Hertfordshire Tourist Board 1993.
List of awards and nominations received by Leonardo DiCaprio (nominated by FrB.TG) Leonardo DiCaprio is an American actor, who started his career by appearing in Santa Barbara (1990), a TV soap opera described by one critic as being "filmed inside a wardrobe". DiCaprio came out of the wardrobe to appear in films across a wide range of genres; for his work he's received "34 awards from 136 nominations", but no Oscars. In 2014 he received the Clinton Global Citizen Award, which somehow isn't in the list. In the same year Leonardo was also given a cast-iron "Oscar" statue and made an honorary member of the Chamber Theater in Chelyabinsk, Russia. They also offered him a non-speaking part as a servant in Oleg and Vladimir Presniakov's play Plennye Dukhi (Captive Spirits). Guess it's back to the wardrobe, Leo.
List of songs recorded by Lana Del Rey (nominated by Littlecarmen) Lana Del Rey has covered the whole alphabet (with the exception of E, X and Z) in her catalog of songs. We look forward to her covers of "Eye of the Tiger", "Xanadu", and "Zombie". Described as a "torch singer of the internet era", Del Rey says she chose her musical identity because it "reminded [her] of the glamour of the seaside". The smell of rotting seaweed, shingle piercing your flipflops, seagulls pinching your fish'n'chips, rain, rain, rain ... down on the west coast.

Featured pictures

Louis de France, Dauphin
Madonna
Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son

Twenty-four featured picturess were promoted this week.

Hudson's Soap advertisement reverse, obverse (created by Hudson's Soap, digitized by the Wellcome Trust, restored by Adam Cuerden, nominated by Crisco 1492) Robert Spear Hudson was an apothecary in West Bromwich near Brummagem in the late 1830s who hit upon the idea of grinding up bars of soap and selling the result as "soap powder". His nascent business was helped by the abolition of tax on soap in 1853, and a "rapidly increasing demand for domestic soap products" (the use of coal for industrial and domestic energy produced staggering amounts of pollution and filth). Hudson advertised his product widely with posters and shopcards designed by professional artists; in the standard of advertising and the level of promotion he was well ahead of his competitors.
Albert Reiss in front of the Metropolitan Opera House stage entrance (created by Bain News Service; restored by Adam Cuerden nominated by Alborzagros) Albert Reiss (1870–1940) was a German opera-singer, with a splendid career in the Metropolitan Opera, especially singing in Richard Wagner's operas. The photograph shows Albert Reiss in 1910 at the stage entrance of the Met.
Gilbert Duprez as Gaston in Giuseppe Verdi's Jérusalem (created by Alexandre Lacauchie; restored and nominated by Adam Cuerden) Gilbert Duprez was a French tenor, who could manage a high C with a full voice from the chest (other tenors hit the high Cs in a falsettone register "from the head"). Here he is shown singing the role of Gaston, the viscount of Béarn, in Verdi's Jérusalem, .
Annika Beck (created by Diliff; nominated by Crisco 1492) Annika Beck is a German tennis player, currently ranked at number 53 in the singles ratings, having begun 2012 at number 234. She is right-handed, her favourite shot is forehand and her favourite surface is hard. Beck's favourite movie is Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Albert Aurier (created by uncredited photographer, restoration by Jebulon; nominated by Alborzagros) G. Albert Aurier (1865 –1892) was a Symbolist poet, art critic and painter, who died of typhus. He had a significant collection of van Goghs and works by other contemporaries. Apparently some paintings of Aurier's were exhibited in 1960, but these seem to be unknown today, and he is now better known as an art critic.
Black-tailed Godwit (created by User:Merops; nominated by Alborzagros) The black-tailed godwit is a rather large wading shorebird. Its range is from western and central Europe to central Asia and Asiatic Russia. With long legs and a long bill, the godwit lives and breeds around freshwater lakes, flooded areas, damp meadows and moorlands. Its call sounds like weeka weeka weeka. Have you noticed that birds never sneeze?
Pretty Nose (created by Laton Alton Huffman; nominated by Brandmeister) Pretty Nose was an Arapaho or Cheyenne woman war chief who participated in the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. Her identification as Arapaho was made "on the basis of her red, black and white beaded cuffs" in the photo. Born circa 1850, Pretty Nose was still alive in 1951 when she saw her grandson return from the Korean War.
Aviat Eagle II 2 (created by Julian Herzog; nominated by Crisco 1492) Aviat Eagle II is a small aerobatic sporting biplane aircraft. The Aviat Eagle II, produced in the United States since the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, is a kind of IKEA aircraft to make at home from assembly kits. It's not actually made by IKEA, else it would be called FANTADIG.
Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son (created by Claude Monet; nominated by Pine) French artist Claude Monet painted this backlit and breezy portrait of Madame Monet and their son in a few hours one windy day. No doubt there's all kinds of entomological specimens and windborne crud stuck to the canvas.
Danaus genutia (created by Vengolis; nominated by Crisco 1492) Danaus genutia is one of the commonest butterflies in India, known as the common tiger or striped tiger. The stripes signal that they are unpleasant to smell and taste, as generally black and yellow stripes do- a warning signal in the animal kingdom. They are soon released when caught by predators. The common tiger occurs in south east Asia, Australia and India.
Madonna (Edvard Munch) and Madonna (Edvard Munch) (created by Edvard Munch; nominated by Crisco 1492) We've got the munchies this week, with two variations on the same theme by downbeat Norse painter Edvard Munch. He revisited the theme of a half-naked woman with eyes closed and hands behind her back several times between 1892 and 1895. There are various "art critic" interpretations of the meaning behind the image, and you can make up one yourself if you like- it'll be just as valid.
Louis, Grand Dauphin (created by Hyacinthe Rigaud; nominated by Crisco 1492) Louis of France (1661–1711) was the eldest son and heir of Louis XIV, King of France. As with all the heirs to the French throne of the time, he was called the Dolphin or Dauphin, one of the things that are a bit exotic and weird about the French royal family. There are also grades in the Dauphin titles. He became known as Le Grand Dauphin after the birth of his own son, Le Petit Dauphin. But Louis never became king, because his father survived him. Probably it would have worked out better (see French Revolution for details) if they called their offspring Eagle or Lion, or maybe even Le Grande Fromage. After all, to paraphrase de Gaulle, who better to rule a country with 246 cheeses?
Jean Metzinger, Danseuse au café (created by Jean Metzinger; nominated by Pine) Dancer in a café is an abstract Cubists painting from 1912 by Jean Metzinger (1883–1956). It was considered as "barbaric" art when exhibited. The painting depicts a woman dancing in a café, wearing an elaborate gown, made in embroidered green silk velvet and a chiffon caped evening gown and she is holding a bouquet of flowers in her hand. In her right hand. The rest of the painting is subdivided in multiple facets and planes, presenting simultaneously parts of the café scene, the very idea behind the abstract painting, from the beginning...
Rock ptarmigan on Mount Tsubakuro (created by Daisuke Tashiro; nominated by Bruce1ee) The rock ptarmigan is a cold-climate loving gamebird from the grouse family, that prefers high and barren habitats. They are the official bird of Toyama Prefecture in Japan and the official game bird for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Its feathers are brown in summer and white in winter. Rock ptarmigan meat is on the menu for festive meals in Icelandic cuisine, with dishes such as steiktar rjúpur, which is ptarmigan fried and then boiled in milk and water for an hour and a half. We're told that rock ptarmigan tastes like hare, and that hare tastes like Bambi's mother apparently.
Micrometer (created by Lucasbosch; nominated by Armbrust) A very nice micrometer, measuring up to 25 millimetres. The object to be measured is placed between the two anvils, and the free anvil screwed finger-tight. Readings are taken from the linear scale, with the circular scale providing the fine measurement.
Gold 20-stater of Eucratides (created by Yann; nominated by Yann) Eucratides the Great loved coins and loved himself depicted on coins. He was an important Greco-Bactrian king. He engaged in wars against the Indo-Greek kings, the Hellenistic rulers in northwestern India. Eucratides went so far as the Indus, until the twist of fate made him loose. He was defeated and returned to Bactria.
Il suonatore di liuto (created by Orazio Gentileschi; nominated by Hafspajen) This painting by Italian artist Orazio Gentileschi shows a young woman playing a nineteen-stringed lute. Other instruments and the open songbook suggest that she may be tuning the lute in preparation for a concert.
Polypogon monspeliensis (created by Morray; nominated by Alborzagros) Polypogon monspeliensis, or annual rabbitsfoot grass, is a soft, fluffy annual grass native to southern Europe.
Marian Dawkins (created by Royal Society; nominated by Crisco 1492) Marian Dawkins is a biologist who specialises in the study of animal behaviour and welfare. She believes that the primary focus of animal welfare should be the feelings on the animals themselves, but thinks that the question of whether animals have consciousness may not be answerable. Instead we should focus on their needs and wants.
Switzerland – Five Francs (1914) (created by the Swiss National Bank; nominated by Godot13) The Swiss franc is the currency of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; this 5 franc note was issued by the Swiss National Bank. It bears three of the four national languages of the confederation, Romansh only becoming an official language in 1996. The note portrays William Tell with a rather clunky crossbow.
Sameer Khan (created by Mydreamsparrow; nominated by Mydreamsparrow) Sameer Khan is a fashion choreographer who also trains contestants for beauty pageants such as WTN Miss Mangalore. He is "known for his unique style of bringing elegance in anything that is fashion." Hey, we're just repeating what's in the article, y'know?
Achillea millefolium (created by PetarM; nominated by PetarM) Achillea millefolium or yarrow is a common perennial plant found in grasslands, gardens and open forests. The plant doesn't look very decorative and it was traditionally used as a medicinal plant. Nursery gardens nowadays have cultivars that are grown for decorative purposes as ornamental plants, mostly in colours like lemon and golden yellow, pink, red, and apricot. No green, black, or blue varieties are available.

I am using their products, Hudson's Soap is the best!

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26 August 2015 (all comments)

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This published with "Albert Reiss in front of the Metropolitan Opera House stage entrance" and "Gilbert Duprez as Gaston in Giuseppe Verdi's Jérusalem" miscredited. You really need to watch the attributions. "created by ???" is not an attribution, that's the bot's default text; nor am I generally the sole creator of 19th-century works. There may be others. I don't have that much time for Wikipedia at the moment, but attribution is one of the basic requirements of having a featured content report. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 02:36, 28 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I was afraid this would happen. A hatnote with "#" in it can't make it to Featured Article status. So I invite anyone who might be interested to evaluate my solution to the American Pharaoh problem. I'm so glad I forgot to remove the TV section from my newspaper that I had taken to the mountains last year, and found it this year, or I might never have known about Bob Bradley. And if the information about Bob Bradley is insufficient, I'm sure more can be found.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 20:31, 28 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Edvard Munch got Madonna Ciccone's hair color wrong but otherwise that's amazing.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 20:38, 28 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

…and thanks to you I now know that the Egyptian national football team had six managers in the 1953-54 season. At the same time. The halftime changing room pep talk must have been absolute hell for the players. Xanthomelanoussprog (talk) 21:32, 28 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Nice to see that I'm not the only person that thinks Inception is the best movie ever.--Eat me, I'm a red bean (discuss • contribs) 10:46, 29 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

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